SAN DIEGO  The number of city of San Diego employees who earned $100,000 or more in 2011 totaled 1,359--up 9 percent over the previous year, Councilman Carl DeMaio said today.

The figure has increased by 55 percent over the past five years, said DeMaio. The mayoral candidate regularly releases reports on city compensation practices and pension payouts.

"As San Diegans continue to see worsening streets and unacceptable service levels, this analysis of city employee compensation shows that there is still plenty of room to trim city labor costs," DeMaio said.

The data showed that while 3 percent fewer positions were budgeted, personnel costs ended up $23 million higher than the year before.

DeMaio, who is also running for mayor, said he took data from the city's payroll system, budget and mid-year budget monitoring report.

"This report reinforces the need for the mayor and City Council to continue reforming city employee compensation until it is in line with the local labor market," DeMaio said. "Commendable progress has been made on some issues, but clearly more can and should be done to reduce labor costs"

A jump in overtime costs within the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department in the current fiscal year accounts for part of the increase, according to the report.

A dozen SDFRD employees, mostly captains and battalion chiefs, made a list of the top 30 city workers who were paid the most in 2011--eight of whom made more than Chief Javier Mainar.

But Firefighter Union President Frank De Clercq says people are leaving the fire department because of benefit changes. He says the number of firefighters has dropped from 1,000 to about 800.

"If we’re not hiring people, which we haven’t in quite so time, then those people are being forced to have to work to fill in on those days when we’re short on employees," he said.

According to the report, four employees made more than $200,000:

Chief Operating Officer Jay Goldstone took home $262,024;

Independent Budget Analyst Andrea Tevlin earned $220,765;

Chief Financial Officer Mary Lewis made $216,840; and

an unnamed assistant chief operating officer was paid $203,677.

The list of the top 30 earners did not include names of the employees. Four police officers were included.

Who cares what they do with their profit? That is why open and free bidding (without the choke-hold of unions) works best.

If one company wants to pay its managers lavish salaries and benefit packages, they'll probably lose out in the bidding process to a more frugal company.

But how do you get rid of city employees making more than the governor? You don't. They just laugh all the way to home to their gated La Jolla mansions where they proceed to lament to their trophy wives how a commoner left a fingerprint on their Bentley so they must buy another one tomorrow.